Ape´s first nights awake dreaming stomach full idle by the fireside.
Fire, man´s first imagination tool. Fire like a found gem, revolutionary ancient mental gadget, reflecting thinking for the first time, an opal, cloudy light gray polished stone with rainbow living flecks of emerging consciousness. The living patches like multicolored fire in the opal, sparked imagination during long evenings chatting their early language.
Meandering flames merged visions of day and night.
Though before only mirror ondulent water in abundance, slow changing mesmerizing sky and rising white clouds, soft ripples of grass and rustling leafes in the windy tree´s sothing movements triggering something beyond, something living, unknown ghosts flying by. The flames of the fire lasted in vision for hours on end through out the nights comforting the senses.
Strangely enough I now talk to AI in full litterary prowess, it passes the Turing test, but is not conscious. That gives us a hint, something unique biological has all along been at play. At least as for a while. Until the software of the thinking brain is tracked down.
On consciousness you have to fathom a total true multidiciplinary take on the problem. Consciousness involves namely all aspects of reality. What you hear see feel sense breathe touch smell imaging, the bodily motions, everything crossing your mind felt or unfelt even the void of null. The unknown behind beyond and dark. The ordinary words, concepts, images, conceptions will not suffice. Particulary the words, the concepts, the conceptions, the images, the narratives et al we use might play us tricks. We are locked in our own descriptions trying to understand something that at the moment is unfathomable. As I knew when I was fourteen, the brain cannot understand the brain itself.
Benefits of fire first discovered by found or hunted animals burned by wildfire, delicious compared to raw meet. That among other things could have triggered the use of tools.
To be continued..